Mud
by LaBatonRouge
Summary: After Sakaki is attacked by a witch, he asks Amon a few questions as how Amon never seems to be the target of witches.
1. Mud

He reached into his mouth, pulling out the long thing.

'What was it?'

Amon stood, silent. What could he say?

'A piece of grass, a weed.'

'What? No way! That thing, that thing! I swear, it wiggled!' Sakaki argued, face smeared with mud the witch had tossed toward him.

Amon only looked at his young coworker, refusing to discuss the situation. But the memory of pulling, that _thing,_ from Sakaki's throat? That would haunt him for some time, waking him from sleep. He offered a hand, pulled the young man to his feet.

The hunt had been a simple one, at least in the beginning.

'A simple catch' Michael had said. 'She seems to have minimal powers over earth. Moving it?'

A simple earth mover, minimal powers but her time had come to be hunted.

She seemed simple enough when Amon and Sakaki found her in the park, shoveling something that looked strangely like dirt into her mouth with both hands in a hurried manner.

They pulled their Orbo guns, 'Freeze!'

She barely spared them a glance. 'Leave me alone! I am so hungry!' as she continued to shovel dirt into her mouth.

Even from several feet away, Amon could detect the ravenous look in her eyes. Could she truly have been without food long enough to resort to eating dirt? Her skin hung on her bones like rags on a line. There was no muscle left in her arms, her body seeming to have eaten itself to keep alive.

They began to walk towards her, watching her over the barrels of their guns. She seemed to ignore them, at first, until her seemingly insatiable rage and hunger overwhelmed her. In what may have been a last ditch attempt to continue her bizarre eating habit or simply a lose of control, she wheeled around on Sakaki, hands full of dirt and began to fling it at him.

Amon could not believe this, was this their 'earth mover' they were looking for or only a homeless person pushed too far. 'Ar!' The sound came from Sakaki, a strangled cry of surprise. Amon looked toward him, shocked to see his young partner being smothered by more mud than could actually be found in the tiny patch of park they stood in.

Without thinking, Amon shot the witch, abruptly stopping the assault.

Running over to Sakaki, Amon began to pull handfuls of dirt away from the hunter's face. Handful after handful was flung away before his face could be seen again. 'Are you alright?'

Sakaki did not answerer, gagging on still more dirt logged into this throat. Prying open his mouth, Amon stuck his fingers inside the other hunters mouth and began to dig out dirt as quickly as he could. And then, that thing, that thing that would haunt his dreams. Something was trying to wiggle down Sakaki's throat. A second, before he reached toward the pink ended thing and _pulled. _It seemed to struggle before being pulled out. Amon flung the thing, the pink, wriggling thing, far away. It would do Sakaki no good to know what had been in his throat only moments ago.

'Daijoubu ka? Are you ok?' He pounded on the younger hunter's back, trying to help to dislodge the dirt still clogging Sakakai's mouth.

Sakaki nodded his head, his color returning to normal as more mud flew from his mouth, breath returning to his lungs. 'Yeah, daijoubu. I'm fine.' He managed to make it to one knee, then both feet as he stood, still bent at the waist, hands on his knees.

Amon looked into Sakaki's eyes, nodded once.

Pulling out his phone, he called Michael. 'Michael, contact the Factory. We are ready for them.' He walked to his car, pulled out two bottles of water from the trunk before walking back to Sakaki.

'Here, wash your mouth out with these' he told the young man, handing one bottle off, holding the other in his hand.

Sakaki gratefully pulled a drink from the bottle, spit thick mud from his mouth, repeating this over and over until the bottle was empty. Amon handed him the second bottle, keeping an eye on him. 'You might want to gargle that' he said, pointing to the bottle, 'to help dislodge any dirt from your throat.' Sakaki nodded, doing as the older man instructed.

Amon kept an eye on his partner until after Factory had finished with the witches body and left, still thumping him on the back now and then when he began to cough.

As Sakaki sat on his motorcycle, helmet in hand, he turned to Amon. 'How do you do it? How are you always able to know _exactly_ where the witch is, what they will do, even how to handle them? I mean, even the only time I ever saw you get hurt, remember when that witch tossed you from the second story window and you managed to run back inside only moments later, you never even seem to stay hurt long. Are you like, the perfect hunter or something?' Sakaki asked, awe mixed with jealousy and a bit of anger in his eyes.

'Training.'

Sakaki raised his eyebrows in shock, then lowered as resentment settled in. 'Fine' he finally said as he lowered his helmet onto his head. 'Don't tell me' he quietly said before pulling off into the night.

Amon sat in his car, quite, thinking. Closing his eyes, he gripped the wheel, leaned his head back and tried to breath. He knew how he always seemed to know where the witch was, what they would do and how to handle them. It was the same thing that caused him to heal at amazing rates, walking off injuries that would land others in the hospital was an old talent.

Neither of these things had anything to with training and he knew that. Some things were better left unsaid.


	2. Ka

_**Languages can be a funny thing. Terror and exhaustion can cloud the mind**_.

* * *

'Ka!' He slapped the air, eyes darting, hands slapping together again and again.

'What, what are you doing?' she asked.

'Ka!' He responded, pointing to the air around him before slapping his hands together again.

Robin stood still, eyes growing wide. He looked like a great crow, black clad arms slapping together like giant wings, cawing the same word over and over, _Ka! Ka! _ 'Ka?' Robin thought frantically, 'that means _or_ in Japanese, right? Why is he saying '_or'_ over and over again? Is he mad? Has he awoken?' Her heart began to pound, she backed away. Would she be able to take _his_ life, if needed?

He looked at her, confusion and fear on her face. He held his hands out to her. 'Ka' he said, showing her his palms. She quickly backed away.

He frowned, eyebrows pulling together. 'Ka!' he said once more, showing her his palms. Looking down to the ground, his frown deepened as he began to mumble.

The more he mumbled, the more she was convinced his powers had corrupted his mind.

'Mo!' he said raising his voice, shoving his hands into her face. She looked down at his palms, tiny smears of what looked like…blood. Tears welled in her eyes, it was now or never.

He tilted his head, concern showing through. 'Robin, look. Ka, see?' he asked, showing her his blood smeared palms. She looked against her will. 'Ka? What do you call them, mo?' his voice, nervous now at her reaction. She looked again. 'Ow!' she slapped her hand on her cheek. 'What was that?'

'Ka, Robin. Mo? Look around, they are everywhere.'

'Mosquitoes? Ka means _mosquitoes_?' Robin asked shocked, being bitten twice more before she finished.

'Let's go' he said, grabbing her arm as they walked away.

Living on the edge, always wondering if this moment would be the last had set both Robin and Amon's nerves on edge. A simple language barrier had nearly done them in.

How were they going to make it through the next 5 years, much less five months?


End file.
